


Learn with Me

by Jonnierose



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Light Is Not Kira, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Hate to Love, Light is stubborn, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-04-27 11:20:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14424327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jonnierose/pseuds/Jonnierose
Summary: A fluffy little story in which Light hates L's guts, but through a series of unfortunate is forced to spend time with L. (And maybe fall head over heels but Light hates him he swears)





	1. Eww

Ninety-six. Ninety-six more days of school. Light would only have to endure L's presence ninety-six more times. This was the mantra Light repeated in his head over and over in each class. He found himself deeply depressed if he didn't. Yesterday he had repeated only ninety-seven more days. The day before was ninety-eight. So, on so forth. 

L was quite probably the worst person in the world, in Light's esteemed opinion. Every single day they got into arguments. Every single day Light listened to L's thumb sucking and his stupid comments. Light would really like to run him over with a bus. And L felt the same. 

It wouldn't have been so bad if it were just one or two classes. Both were best in class, so naturally in taking all advanced classes they had had a few together over the years. They could bear to ignore each other for a little while. But senior Light got the pleasure of enduring L fucking Lawliet for seven of the eight classes in a day. His one L free class was art, which Light despised. But L despised it too, so Light made it his elective. Art was now his favorite class

Light repeated his mantra sitting in the library. 1st period started in ten minutes. But Light had already been at school for thirty minutes. He used his extra time to complete homework and study, even though he had done all that last night. His rigid schedule kept him a star student. Light watched a student glance at him as he walked by. He added extra study time each more for image. The looks people gave him were worth it. He loved seeing the impressed faces. There were others too. People looked on with bewilderment, understanding, surprise, and even jealousy. Light knew those who saw him so early in the morning would tell their friends. He knew they'd think to themselves, 'He works so hard, but if I tried that hard I still wouldn't be near as good as him'. Those thoughts made his stomach tingle and brought a smile to his face. 

Now Light was at the preparation part of his schedule. Every morning, ten minutes before first bell, Light gave himself quiet time to think. He'd get ready to deal with L, and all the other morons in his class. And he needed it. His first class was advanced Lit comp. All the other teachers had better sense, but Mr. Matsuda thought it was a good idea to but the two-star students in assigned seats next to each other. It was not okay. L sat makes weird noises the whole class and probably doesn't shower. They fight pretty much every day in that class, then continue that fight in the other classes. Neither ever backed down or admitted wrong. They only stopped their arguments when they forget what it was about. 

The first bell rung and Light sighed. He picked his stuff up and headed towards class. He saw L coming down the hall from the corner of his eye. Lights hopes were shattered. L was constantly late or absent all together. No one cared because he was such a good student. Light enjoyed when L wasn't there, but it only made him hate him even more. L still got grades almost as good as Light's but he didn't appear to try or care. That gave some people the bright idea that L was smarter than him. But Light found a way around that. He was popular enough to tell everyone how gross he thought L was and that he probably cheated. So now no one could think L was better than him. 

Light made it to his class and sat down. He was one of the first in and used his time to start unpacking. More students started filtering in; L was one of the lasts. He must walk so slow. Light scooted over as much as he could as L approached. Another reason Lit. was the worst class: The desks are big tables that two people have to share. L and Light had to share elbow space. Eww. 

At least they didn't have to share leg space since L sat in chairs like a godamn frog. He was going to have horrible back issues when he's older. He shouldn't always crouch like that. 

L got to his seat, dropped his bag, and got in the chair. A downside to how L sat was how Light could easily see L's feet. He always wore thin shoes that looked a lot like black ballerina shoes and no socks despite being dress coded multiple times. L's toes curled out of the side of Light's eyes and his nose wrinkled. L's ridiculously skinny body looked too much like the unwanted result of a frisky night between an owl and a skeleton. 

Class started and L sat quietly in front of his textbook while Light filled his notebook with notes and doodles. Unusual behavior from L. He was generally reserved and quiet, but normally by now he would have purposely done something to upset Light. He'd been quiet for almost fifteen min- 

"That character has no real morals." L whispered. Light glanced at him. The class was discussing a character under the alias Kira who had the ability to kill at will. Kira was purging the world of criminals with his gift.

"The world would be better with him." Light muttered back, keeping an eye on Mr. Matsuda to make sure he didn't notice. They sat near the back, but Light didn't want to risk getting written up. 

"The world will be no better, the evil in it would simply hide under a veil in wait." L's voice was quiet and low. Only his lips moved. Light scoffed. 

"Only the pure will make it. And the pure do not often create evil. The world will continue to see Kira's effects long after he is gone." Growled Light. He was completely distracted now. L sighed condescendingly. Light fumed. He didn't know why L riled him up so much so easily, he could never let what L said go. Light opened his mouth to retort but Mr. Matsuda called out, 

"Light, how many times has Kira described paradise in this scene." Light turned from L and answered Mr. Matsuda's question in an airy voice, giving the perfect answer from a perfect student. 

Mr. Matsuda thanked Light and moved on to another student. By this point L was back to biting his thumb and staring blankly ahead. Light didn't say anything. He thought it would be low of him to restart their argument. Light was right anyway. L was probably only a good student because of an identic memory or something. That wouldn't help in the pursuit of logic.

Class ended without any further events. The whole day went by pretty normally, until last period science. The teacher announced there would be a group project worth 40% of their semester grade. Mr. Mogi in general wasn't a horrible science teacher. He kept the class in check and his understanding of the material was as good as Light's. But he, like all the other teachers, thought the two brightest students should be able to produce an astounding project together.

Light knew what was coming when Mr. Mogi pulled out a list of preassigned partners. Excited squeals, awkward acknowledgements, or annoyed groans arose as he read the list of partners. 

"Light and L." Damnit. Their eyes meet. L nodded at Light, then turned back to his desk. He acted like this wasn't going to be the most miserable groups project ever.  
Light sighed. Ninety-six more days of high school. 

 

The next day they still hadn’t discussed the project yet other than choosing a topic. They had two weeks, so it was fine. Light was normally the opposite of a procrastinator, but this time he’d made an exception. Spending time with L wasn’t necessarily on his list of priorities. He had other problems to worry about. 

“Liiight”. Speaking of. Misa ran to Light full speed, almost taking him down. 

“Hello Misa.” Light droned. He made sure to smile. A clingy girlfriend was enough, he didn’t need an angry one. She grinned and bounced a bit. 

“Oh Light-o, I missed you so much! We need to plan an extra-long date to make up for the lost time!” 

“It was only a week. And I know you had fun.” 

“But it would have been better with you!” Misa gave him puppy eyes. Light sighed.

“I don’t have time to go out tonight, but tomorrow we can go somewhere.” It was easier to just appease her. Misa nodded and gave him another hug. Misa went on trips a lot, being an internet phenomenon and all. It gave Light some down time. 

Light made an excuse about class starting and let her go. He walked grimly to first period, annoyed his morning ritual had been interrupted by his screaming girlfriend. He couldn't complain though. She was the hottest girl in school, plus she was famous. 

"Light-kun." L appeared in front of him suddenly. Light growled,

"I told you not to call me that."

"Call you what, Light-kun." L said innocently. 

"What do you want L?" Light said, "Can't we talk in 1st period?" He didn't see why L would go out of his way to find him when they have the same class. The hallway was starting to empty. The bell would ring soon. 

"We need to find a time to meet for the science project."

"We can talk in first-"

"But Light-kun," L cut in, "In first period you will avoid talking to me by using the chance of being written up as an excuse. And as tradition dictates, you will avoid talking to me after class by using an excuse similar to the one you are trying to give me now. Then my only other option would be to talk to you at lunch, but I was trying to be courteous and save you the 'embarrassment', as you call it, of my presence around your friends."

"How about I just do the project myself and give you some credit?" Light asked. It would be a large workload, but it'd be worth it. 

"Remember Light-kun the teacher can check who edits the document." Light's face flamed at his lapse of thought. Dumb electronic projects.

"Fine. Let's meet at the school library before school tomorrow." Light tried to regain control of the conversation. 

"That doesn't work for me. We can meet at my house, I'll write down the address." L was rustling through his backpack before Light could reply. Light gave in.

"I'm free Wednesday afternoon." Sighed Light. 

"Perfect" L nodded and handed him the address. Light took the paper and walked away briskly. The bell rung before Light could make it to class. 

Light made it to class and sat silently, watching Mr. Matsuda mark him tardy. L came in shortly after. Light opened his mouth to chew L out for making them late but didn't have the energy. Light reached up and touched the small indent in his nose. It was the remnants of a fight they had near the beginning of the year. His messed-up nose wasn't noticeable, but he decided he should probably try to avoid making it worse from L's fists.


	2. Double eww

L was absent Tuesday, which gave Light a much-appreciated reprise from him. L did come to school Wednesday. Light was sitting in class before the bell when L sauntered in. He plopped down next to Light and put a lollipop in his mouth. Light wasn't sure how he was so skinny with the amount of sugar he'd seen him consume in class alone. He must have bad cavities too. 

L obnoxiously swirled it around his mouth, knocking it into his teeth. Sadly, the teachers had all collectively given up on getting L to not eat in class, so Light got to spend most of his classes with disgusting mouth noises in the background. And no matter how politely he asked, L would not stop. But that wouldn't stop him from pointing out how annoying L’s candy habits were. 

"Can you stop? I can't hear myself think." Whispered Light. Class had started, but Mr. Matsuda was distracted explaining the chapter for the third time this week. L didn’t appear to react and started to scribble some notes. 

"I'll be quiet." Came L's mumbled reply. That was the excuse he always gave when Light complained about him eating in class. And he would always just continue smacking away. Light could swear he got louder though. Light decided to pointedly lean his head on his hand, covering his ear. Then he, with his other hand, tapped a tune on the desk. He repeated the tune and bounced his leg under the table, shaking it. 

L defiantly noticed. Light almost snorted when a relatively big shake made L's pencil slip upwards, making a large dark line over part of his notes. L stopped what he was doing and stared at Light's hand still tapping the tune. Light took his hand off his ear to write notes and continued bouncing the table to the tune, pretending like he didn't notice. Light was excited to have gotten a response from L, it was fun to break the cold calm exterior. 

"Light-kun, you are making it hard for me to write."

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry L," Light purred, " I wouldn't want to bother you." Light said, his hand stopped the tune, but he continued to bounce his leg ever so slightly. L sighed and finally turned to look at him. Their eyes meet and Light smiled sweetly. L rarely bothered to look him in the eye, but now he was maintaining eye contact. Light stared into his owlish eyes, suddenly somber. It felt like they were in a staring contest. Light opened his mouth but nothing came out. He had never realized how dark L's eyes were. His irises seemed black and the darkness around his eyes only served to accentuate the color. 

L suddenly looked away, breaking the trace. He glanced at the wall clock and slowly started to pack his things. Light realized he should probably get going too when the bell rang. Class goes by fast when you’re annoying your nemesis. L got up and walked away before Mr. Matsuda could finish dismissing them. As L walked out he glanced back at Light. Light whipped his head away a shoved something in his backpack. When he looked back up L was gone. 

 

 

  
The rest of the day went by quickly. Light spent it dreading going to L's house, and they hadn't talked since the morning. L's house was only a ten-minute walk from school, something Light found himself jealous of. He had to take the subway to get home. Light delayed going by talking to Misa. Normally he would have avoided a conversation like that, but he wasn’t sure he was prepared to go deal with L; and who or what ever might be there yet.

Light tried to ignore the swirling in his gut; he did not feel up to this. But he steeled himself and made his way to the exit, directions in hand. 

"Light-kun." Light jumped and turned around. L walked up to him from the direction of the cafeteria. 

"You're still here?" Light asked bewildered. He had expected to meet L there. 

"I had something to do. C'mon" L said and motioned to the door with his head. They left side by side and turned down the street. Light stayed quiet, trying to ignore L, even though he was following him. L didn’t make conversation.

Light appreciated the quiet. He didn't normally go down this street and he found the silence, brickwork, and cool, overcast weather tranquil. The street was full of expensive apartments and condos. L must be loaded if his family lived here. 

L suddenly turned and walked up the steps to one of the buildings. Light followed. L typed a code in on the door and it beeped and unlocked. He stepped in and held the door for Light, who walked through without a thank you. He was capable of using a door. L shut the door and slipped his shoes off. Light gaped a bit realizing L's family must own the whole building. Then he did the same, assuming it was house rules. There were no other shoes by the door or in the hall.

"We can work in the living room." L piped up and turned down a hallway. The empty hallway lead into a large great room. The only furniture was a big couch and a coffee table. There were a few toys scattered about and some boxes were stacked in the far corner. "Excuse the mess, we moved recently." L said courtly. Maybe he just wanted to get this over with too. L sat on the couch and started getting some papers out. Light joined him.

"What do your parents do?" Light asked, feeling the leather of the couch. 

"Nothing. They're probably dead, I don't know. I live with my godfather, Watari." 

"Oh." Light didn't want to pity him. 

"Let’s get to work," L mumbled, "I'll grab some poster board and you can start outlining the paper." L left through an adjoining door. Light sighed and took out a lined paper. He had already made an outline. They had to write a three-page paper and make a poster presentation on meiosis. Light divided it so he'd be doing the bulk of the paper and presentation notes. L could do the poster. Light didn't know him to be the most word savvy. It would be a shit ton of work on Light's side, but they wouldn't have to meet anymore and Light would for sure get a good grade. 

L got back with a poster board, some glue, and markers. Light put down the outline for the paper. 

"Okay, this is the outline for the paper, the presentation should just follow it. I can do all the writing if you do the poster board. And I'll give you the presentation notes a few days before we present, so you can memorize them." Explained Light. 

"This is the outline for the essay?" L said is his dull, emotionless voice. He was staring at the paper with his thumb in his mouth. 

"Yes, I told you that," Light growled, "Just follow-"

"It's not very good." L interrupted, wide eyes roving over it. Light clenched his jaw.

"What." He had made it in the most logical order, each paragraph would flow perfectly into the next.

"I said it's not very good." L said louder, like Light literally didn't hear him. Suddenly he was scribbling notes and changes all over Light's plan with a pink marker. Light bit his lip. Would it be rude to punch L in his own house? L finished and presented the paper now covered in pink lines and scribbles. 

"We can both write a page and a half and split the presentation notes." 

Light took a big breath," Fine," he spoke fighting to keep his voice low," I'll start the paper now, while you do the poster board."

"I would be more beneficial if we both worked on the paper at the same time, Light-kun." L said in a more innocent voice. He knew what he was doing. Light was starting to think he enjoyed pissing him off. 

"What's your problem! I'm already letting you change the outline." Light knew, deep inside, what L had said made sense. But he elected to ignore it.

"No need to be so bossy, Light-kun." That was it. Light lounged at L, trying to knock him over. But L saw it, and with unexpected speed twisted out of the way and used Light's momentum against him, pushing him face down onto the couch. L tried to hold him down but wasn't heavy enough. Light flipped over and shoved L off the couch. Light jumped down on top of L and held his hands above his head. L kneed his behind just as quickly. He scrambled out from under Light and stood up. Light stood slowly, panting and rubbing his ass where L had kneed it. L made no attempt to hit him again, so neither did Light. 

"You're an asshole" Light ground out, falling back onto the couch. 

"You started it." L reclaimed his spot and picked up a marker. "You can write the introduction and thesis paragraphs while I start the board then we can switch." L said the words slowly, as if speaking to a child. Light wanted to smack him, but his backside ached as he shifted, so he decided to do with gritting his teeth. By the end of this hell project they’d probably be ground all the way down. 

The boys both worked quietly for a while, the silence only interrupted by one occasionally trying to correct the other's work, only to receive a dismissive retort in response. They managed to finish a half page and a quarter of the board in a half-hour. That meant that they would have to get to together more, against Light's original plan. He didn't have time for this. 

"That's enough for today, I'll see myself out." Light said abruptly.

"Really, it's still quite early." 

"It's fine." He said, packing his backpack. L stood up but made no move to clear the coffee table. Light started to walk away, but almost fell over a toy robot. He turned back to L. "Do you have a little sibling or something?" He asked, motioning at the toy. He was generally curious. He'd always thought of L as an only child.

"Watari cares for three other boys too. Mello, Matt and Near. Mello and Matt go to our school." Light recognized the names. Mello was the blond one with anger issues in his art class. All Light knew about Matt was that he smoked and stood with Mello a lot. He knew from rumors that they were pretty smart, but also weird. He never realized they all lived together. L had never left school with them. Not that Light ever watches L leave. This Watari guy seemed to have a theme with who he cared for. Light couldn't help but envision some old billionaire with a creepy hallway. 

"They like toys?" 

"Only Near, he’s twelve. He's in his room right now if you would like to meet him. The others are still out" L said. He slouched down to put his hands in his sagging pockets.

"No, I'm good." Light said. He finally turned back to the hallway and left the house. L didn’t follow him. Light decided to avoid meeting L's other siblings, he didn't need to make any other enemies. Especially if they were somewhat like L. He wondered if Near had heard them fighting. Light sighed and tromped towards the subway station. By the time he got home it would be dinner time. He'd have to study for two exams before bed. Light sighed again and cringed at the ache on his bottom. This was not going to be an easy project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love writing Light like the diva we all know he is.  
> Also, this story is taking longer than i originally thought it would. Don't know how long its gonna last. I literally write all of this in class so ill probably (hopefully) update every few weekdays.


	3. Triple eww

Giving L his phone number was a mistake. Light learned that the hard way when, at 1:48 a.m. Saturday night, his phone dinged. Light jolted awake. The text lighting his screen read 'still on for today?' Light ignored the text, silenced his phone, and laid back down. He'd deal with L tomorrow when he came to his house. They'd arranged to meet at Light's house this time. It was Saturday, and Light didn't feel like going out of his way to L's weird family house. Even though they'd seen each other yesterday, they planned it over text. They decided to meet at two. 

And at exactly two o'clock, the doorbell rang. Light started down the stairs, listening to his mom open the door. "Light! Your friend is here! Come in. Come in." Light made it to the living room but stopped. L... looked good. Instead of his usual white shirt and jeans, L was wearing grey slacks and a white button down. Nothing was wrinkled and his hair was brushed. Light had never, even at formal events, seen him dressed like that.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Yagami. Light" L nodded, still slouched. Sayu turned from her spot on the couch and stared at L with wide eyes. She looked between the two boys with a wide grin. 

"C'mon, let's work in my room." Light said, glancing at Sayu. He heard Sayu's girlish giggle as they ascended the stairs. L made no expression as they entered his room. Light closed the door and sat on his bed, motioning for L to take the desk chair. He had wanted to work in the kitchen, but it seems his family would be too much of a distraction. L had the messenger bag he normally brought to school, and took the rolled poster and his laptop out of it. 

Light opened his own computer. "We'll continue from where we left it last time?", he said. It wasn't really a question. L nodded.

"You have a nice family." L commented. Light waited for him to say more, or make a jab, but L stayed quiet, staring at his computer screen. Wordlessly Light began to type. L did the time-consuming job of inserting all their sources into the bibliography while Light added more paragraphs. They were working on the same google doc, and soon enough he could see L's cursor moving around and editing what Light had already proofed. Guess the bibliography was finished. 

"You should continue the poster, I'll worry about the essay." Light said.

"Light-kun we talked about this. Remember? We are splitting it all evenly. I did half the poster last time, so now you do that and I'll continue the paper." L said in his condescending British accent. L's typing didn't falter as he spoke and Light guffawed when L reorganized a whole paragraph Light was quite proud of.

"It doesn't matter L. Just let me do the writing. I'll get us a good grade." Light reached over to close L's laptop. L tightened his grip on it and leaned backwards as far from Light as he could, not taking his eyes off the screen. 

"No need to be bossy Light-kun it's-" L was cut off by a kick from Light's foot. L's frog stance failed him and he lost his balance and fell. L hit the ground with a thud. With his inhuman speed L put the laptop down and jumped up at Light, who was now standing. L swung at his face but Light ducked and shoved at L. He grunted and ran back at Light, who held his arms out. They locked arms pushed at each other. Light looked at L's eyes. His heart jumped at the emotion in them, rather than their normal dull nature. This look was one he rarely got out of L, it was more intense then the mischievous look L got when he purposely pissed off Light. Light actually laughed aloud. L constantly saw him mad, but it was a treat when Light got the same response from L.

L was sweating, which Light had never seen him do. His nicely brushed black hair was returning to it's usual state, and falling into his face. Light realized he was panting. Light's hands slipped just a bit, but L felt it and shoved him back onto the bed. 

"Don't call me Light-kun." Light muttered. He could barely think through a pounding headache. L got on the bed and held Light with his legs. He leaned forward an regarded Light's face with a curious expression. Light stared into his eyes and slowly L leaned forward.

"Light?" Suddenly the door opened. "I heard a noise- oh! Am I interrupting something?" Lights mom said. Light scrambled away from L, face flushed.

"No nothing." Light said quickly. He glanced at L. "Nothing at all."

"Alright then." She didn't sound convinced. But she walked off, leaving the door cracked. 

"We should continue working." L muttered. He returned to the desk chair. Light nodded and grabbed the poster. They worked without sound or argument for nearly a hour. Neither was to keen to get into another argument. 4 o'clock rolled around and their project was three quarters done.

"I think that's enough for today." Light hinted. He was ready for L to leave. They probably could have finished in another hour, but L seemed eager to get away also. L gathered his stuff and walked out, Light behind him. He needed to be polite or risk a scolding from his mother. 

They were just about to the door when- "L, would you like to stay for dinner dear?" Sachiko suddenly appeared in an apron covered with flour. Light's heart dropped. 

"I wouldn't want to impede." L bowed his head and backed up. 

"Nonsense! There's plenty of space. Light's father gets home soon, we'll eat then." Light's mom said. 

"Mom, I was going to invite Misa." Light said. He wasn't, but it made a good excuse. 

"Then she can come for dinner too. I'm making extra." Damn her friendliness. L glanced at Light and awkwardly followed Sachiko into the dining room. Light took a breath and swallowed. He hurriedly texted an invite to Misa. They never stayed for dinner at his place, so he was sure she'd drop whatever she was doing to come. Misa would be a great distraction from L at least. Light couldn't believe his day had taken such a turn. His head was still pounding and an ache in his leg just wouldn't let up. This dinner was going to be wonderful.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what i'm doing or how this story's gonna but leave a review or not idk


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